Don Clarendon

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New study reveals 2021’s horniest cities in America

We never thought that a landscaper booking website would publish a study about the horniest cities in the United States, but 2021 apparently had more surprises in store for us.

LawnStarter says it ranked the libido levels of 200 U.S. cities by “nine key indicators of sexual arousal,” including proportion of single residents, Google search interest in adult content, and sales of sex toys.

Related: This lovely desert town has the best gay scene you’ve probably never heard of

To measure the thirst of each metropolis, the researchers culled data from All Swingers Clubs, Eventbrite, Google Trends, Innerbody Research, Lovehoney, U.S. Census Bureau, and Yelp.

The results? The horniest cities in America, according to the survey, are:

  1. Paradise, Nevada
  2. Orange, California
  3. Hollywood, Florida
  4. Providence, Rhode Island
  5. Atlanta, Georgia
  6. Fort Lauderdale, Florida
  7. Newark, New Jersey
  8. Dayton, Ohio
  9. Tempe, Arizona
  10. Baltimore, Maryland

Paradise, Nevada, has more sex shops and adult entertainment venues than any other city, according to LawnStarter, while Providence, Rhode Island, sells the most sex toys out of the cities surveyed. LawnStarter also notes that California and Florida cities dominate the top 10 in all nine metrics, crediting those states’ standout sex drives to “sand, sweat, skin, and sangria.”

Related: 10 unexpectedly queer-friendly cities in America to visit soon

And then there’s the bottom 10 — and in this case, we don’t mean “bottom” in the good sense.

  1. Omaha, Nebraska
  2. McKinney, Texas
  3. Naperville, Illinois
  4. Plano, Texas
  5. Brownsville, Texas
  6. Laredo, Texas
  7. Amarillo, Texas
  8. Cape Coral, Florida
  9. Frisco, Texas
  10. Midland, Texas

Um, can someone check on Texas, please?

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Redditors offer tips for befriending other gays

Making friends is a lot harder in your adult years than it was in high school and college, and it’s even harder if you’re looking specifically for gay friends. But commenters chimed in with advice after one Reddit user asked for “specific, actionable, constructive advice” for befriending other gays, and many of their tips honed in on the two Gs: groups and Grindr. Read on for their responses, edited for clarity.

“Work and Reddit. … I’ve met one person off Reddit, but he actually knows quite a bit of people, so I’ve been meeting some of his friends little by little.”

“Usually making one friend will lead you to meeting their friends and basically a chain reaction, if you’re lucky. The usual [advice] is [to] join clubs or group activities, even online ones in your area. I used to go to the bars alone, have a drink or two, and basically just talk to strangers. Maybe someone was alone or someone saw me alone. Sometimes I’d run into someone I hadn’t seen in ages and made friends with their friends. It’s best to not go in with high expectations. A couple of times, it was a dud, but I was happy to leave the house.”

“Find your local LGBT center and volunteer and go to events. There are other queer folk looking for friends.”

“Most of the gay friends I have came from Grindr. The only ones that have stayed are the ones that I didn’t hook up with. My roommate got on Facebook, and it suggested to him a lot of the local gays, and he got to know them that way, just by randomly adding them and messaging them on Facebook. He is braver than me in that respect.”

“Reach out to people that you find interesting! My current best friend and I met after he randomly reached out to me on Facebook 3 years ago. Yes, it started out as flirty but turned into a beautiful friendship. Also, join groups. I have a really good friend in Texas I talk to and FaceTime a bunch. We met through the comment section on a post in the Facebook group we were both in. Granted, we are in different states, but I love having her. I also have another gay friend in Texas I met through the same way! Otherwise, hobbies and common interests. Start a new hobby and find people in your community that are also into that hobby. The more you frequent the same place, the higher the chances of running into the same people and becoming friends. Anyway, I need to take my own advice because I need more friends, but I hope this helps.”

Related: Gay guys explain how they landed their friends-with-benefits

“Back when I was a teenager — 32 now — I used to go to gay chatrooms online and talk to gay guys in my local area. Met up with them, and from then on, I’ve met more gay friends. I guess nowadays an online chatroom is equivalent to Reddit, Tinder, Grindr, etc. Or you can go to gay clubs and bars by yourself, if that’s your thing. I know being there by yourself can be a bit weird and intimidating at times, but people would usually try to talk to you, especially if you’re on your own in there.”

“Oddly, Grindr. Just separated ones I was trying to hook up/date [from] other bottoms I just became friends with.”